In the ultimate consummation of the dispensing of the divine Trinity, the redeeming God in His triune dispensing will also be the spring of the water of life (Rev. 21:6b). In the New Jerusalem we shall have both the light of life and the spring of the water of life. The spring of the water of life also involves the divine dispensing. The water flows out of this spring to saturate the believers, and this saturation involves God’s dispensing.
Revelation 22:1 says, “He showed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb in the middle of its street.” Here we see that in the New Jerusalem we shall enjoy not only the spring of the water of life but also the river of the water of life. The spring is the source, and the river is the flow. Furthermore, both the source and the flow are of the water of life. The water of life is a symbol of God in Christ as the Spirit flowing Himself into His redeemed people to be their life and life supply. It is typified by the water that came out of the riven rock (Exo. 17:6; Num. 20:11) and is symbolized by the water that flowed out of the pierced side of the Lord Jesus (John 19:34). In Revelation 22:1 this water of life becomes a river proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb to supply and saturate the entire New Jerusalem. Thus, the New Jerusalem is filled with the divine life to express God in His glory of life.
The river of water of life that proceeds out of the throne of the Lamb-God is nothing less than the flowing Spirit of God as the life-giving Spirit. In 22:1 we see the Triune God-God, the Lamb, and the river. God the Father is the source; the Lamb, the Son, is the Redeemer; and the river is the Spirit. Hence, we have the Father as the source, the Son as the course, and the Spirit as the flow. This means that in 22:1 we have the flow of the Triune God. This is a picture of the Triune God dispensing Himself into us. He is flowing Himself out of Himself into His redeemed ones. This dispensing of the Triune God into us comes out of God’s administrating throne, indicating that God’s dispensing depends on His administration.
For the water of life to flow out of the throne of the Lamb-God means that it flows out of God Himself. In the New Jerusalem we have God in the Lamb, and out of the redeeming God flows the river of life, the life-giving Spirit. This is the dispensing of the Triune God. Before God could dispense Himself into us, He had to redeem us. Thus, the picture in Revelation 22 reveals that the redeeming God is the life-dispensing God. The Lamb signifies redemption, and the river of life signifies the dispensing of life. For eternity, our God will be the redeeming and life-dispensing God. In the New Jerusalem in the new heaven and the new earth, our God will be the redeeming Lamb flowing out as the river of life (the life-giving Spirit) to dispense His life into every part of the city.
This river of water of life flows in the middle of the street of the New Jerusalem. The street of the holy city is gold (21:21), which symbolizes the divine nature. The river of water of life proceeding in the middle of the street signifies that the divine life flows in the divine nature as the unique way for the daily life of God’s redeemed people. Where the divine life flows, there is the divine nature as the holy way by which His people walk; and where the holy way of the divine nature is, there the divine life is flowing. The divine life and the divine nature as the holy way always go together. Thus, the river of water of life is available along this divine way, and we enjoy it by walking in the divine way.
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